Draft 2011 Registry
List of Parks
Draft 2011 Detail
List of Parks (5-year rent history)
2010
Registry & Mobile Home Parks Report
Narrative report + Registry List and Detail Report
(pdf 3.43 MB)
2007
Registry and Mobile Home Parks Report
(.doc)
Where
can I find the mobile home park law?
The mobile home park law
is found in Chapter
153 of Title 10 of the Vermont Statutes. The Department
of Housing & Community Affairs administers the sections
of the law pertaining to leases, evictions, park sales and
closings, lot rent increases, and conducts an annual registration
of mobile home parks. In addition, housing
division rules adopted by the Department cover in more
detail the rights and responsibilities of mobile home park
owners and residents including habitability requirements of
mobile home parks.
The Agency of Natural Resources
regulates water and septic systems under Chapter
64 of Title 10, which was adopted in 2002 and created
a unified water and wastewater permit for development, and
eliminated the separate State mobile home park permit. Public
water systems that serve mobile home parks are regulated by
the Water Supply Division and are defined as any water system
that connects to fifteen or more houses or serves more than
25 people. Design, layout and general requirements for mobile
home park development may be regulated by local zoning ordinances,
and by Act 250 in some cases.
Why
are mobile home parks closing?
More than 95% of Vermont's
mobile home park lots are in parks that are over twenty years
old. Vermont continues to lose mobile home parks, while few
new mobile home parks are being built. In many cases mobile
home parks are closed due to water or septic problems that
the owner is not able or willing to fix. Others close because
the owner wants to use the land for some other purpose, retire,
or sell the property. Mobile
home park owners are required to give at least eighteen-months
notice for residents to move if the mobile home park is being
closed. As of July 1, 2008 park owners are required to give
a sale notice before giving a closure notice unless they agree
not to sell the land for five years.
Are
there any lots available?
It may be difficult
to find an available mobile home lot where you want to live.
The statewide vacancy rate for 2011 was 4.3%, or 310 lots,
however, most parks are full.
For information on
available mobile home park lots visit our listing of nonprofit
and cooperatively owned mobile home parks that have lots available.
Click here.
The Vermont State Housing
Authority manages seventeen mobile home parks owned by the
Housing Foundation Inc. and also maintains a listing of vacant
lots and mobile homes for sale at www.vsha.org.
What is the average lot rent?
The
State Median Lot Rent for 2011 is $302 per month. The
median measures the midway point, meaning half of lots have
higher rent and half have lower rent. Rent varies greatly
from park to park, but nonprofit and cooperatively owned parks
generally have lower rent.
Is
there a limit on rent increases?
There is no cap on mobile
home park lot rent or rent increases. Park owners must give
60-days written notice and increases are limited to once per
year. Residents can request mediation to dispute a proposed
increase that is more than one-percent above the housing component
of the consumer price index for the year. For 2012 the mediation
threshold is 2.6%.
The
Department is responsible for ensuring that lot rent increase
notices comply with the statutes and rules, assists mobile
home park owners with the forms, maintains a roster of neutral
professional mediators, and provides for the mediation process.
The Department has facilitated more
than 45 mediation cases.
Do
most mobile home park residents own their home?
In 2010 park owners owned
about 7% of the mobile homes in parks, with 92% owned by leaseholders.
The registry does not count how many of these are sublet to
others. This "dual ownership" of owning a mobile
home, but renting the lot from the park owner is one reason
that the State has adopted laws to balance the rights of the
park owner and the resident. In Vermont 80% of all mobile
homes are owner-occupied.
Are
any mobile home parks owned by the residents?
There are six resident owned
mobile home parks in Vermont including two new resident owned
cooperatives as of 2011! Cooperative
Development Institute assisted with development
of these new resident-owned cooperatives.
In addition, not-for-profit
housing agencies have acquired forty-three mobile
home parks at the request of the residents, and nonprofits
have also built three new parks. 2,190 lots, or 30% of mobile
home park lots in the State, are owned by nonprofits or resident
cooperatives. Purchase of a park by a nonprofit or resident
cooperative often results in lower rent and substantial investments
in park improvements.
How
many Vermonters live in mobile homes?
In
2010, in total there were an estimated 22,436 mobile homes
in Vermont; including mobile homes on their own land and in
mobile home parks, and vacant or seasonal mobile homes. Approximately
6,800 of these mobile homes are located in mobile home parks.
In total, mobile homes equal 7.2% of all housing units in
Vermont.
Of the occupied not seasonal mobile homes approximately 80%
are owner occupied and 20% are renter occupied.
Where
can I get more information?
Just go back to Mobile
Home Parks. If you are a mobile home resident and need
assistance, contact the CVOEO
Mobile Home Project or the Vermont
Mobile Home Owners Association.
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